INNOCENCE
(for my sons)
there is genuine, natural innocence.
the innocence of children.
chronological children.
and then there is a more insidious,
a more dangerous, disturbing innocence.
the innocence of grown men and women,
i won’t say adults, who maintain their
innocence, and their ignorance, against
all odds and reason and purpose to do
otherwise.
these innocent people form so much of
what’s wrong with america today.
dr king spoke of it as a great problem,
the problem that permits such people
to harm the earth, to harm others, and
yet to sleep soundly.
meanwhile, there are other men
and women, fewer in number, who lost
or gave up or never had such innocence.
not since genuine childhood.
they’ve done all they can to rid themselves
of this terrible curse.
this blight that permits no conscience, that
permits emotional violence against others,
including loved ones, daily.
the greatest victim of this innocence is
real love itself, which is reserved for the
brave ones among us, those of us who
as, the great william blake made clear,
live in the fallen, beautiful, painful,
glorious world of experience.